Little Warriors
by A. LaRosa
Summary: Sukka, one-shot. It should've been obvious to her, being female and all, but it wasn't. Suki believed that it would be impossible for her to carry a child. However, as luck would have it... Review!


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender; Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have me beat in that area. Those crazy geniuses.

**Author's Note**: I don't know where this one came from, seriously. BUT HOW PUMPED ARE WE FOR THE NEW EPISODES/FINALE THIS WEEK? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Please, **review **when you're done and tell me what you think!

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_**Little Warriors**_

**Rating**: PG-13

_July 13, 2008_

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Her eyes were trained on him, watching him pace back and forth in the snow. She had just exited the Healers' hut, where they would go for anything serious, and he was nervously wandering outside of the hut, trying to keep himself occupied.

She had been sick all week. Anything she attempted to eat refused to stay down, leaving her to run out of the room to empty the contents of her stomach in the bathroom whenever she thought it was safe. It was more annoying to her than anything since she didn't ultimately feel sick. She didn't have a fever, her throat wasn't sore, nor did she exhibit any signs of the common cold that would seemingly be her best bet.

After another sleepless night, Sokka had forced her to go see the closest Healer, deeply concerned about her health and showing it more so than he had ever seen him react when it came to her well being. Sure, he had been concerned about other things, but she figured he believed she was dying with how lethargic she was and how many times she was sick and hovering over the toilet for hours.

Now with more knowledge on her current condition, she was calmly at peace. It should've been obvious to her, being female and all, but she believed that her subconscious completely ruled out the idea with how many fights and wounds she had acquired over the years. Suki believed that it would be impossible for her to carry. However, as luck had it...

"Suki!" Sokka spotted her at the entrance of the hut and made a beeline for her. "Are you all right? What did the Healer say? Are you dying? Is it contagious? Should we bring you back to Kyoshi Island? I knew it was a bad idea bringing you to live here with me, I should've stayed on Kyoshi Island with you. You probably got food poisoning from all of those stewed sea prun–"

His rambling was silenced by a hand placed firmly on his mouth.

"Did you breathe at all while speaking just now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He shook his head 'no' and she removed her hand from his mouth with a small smile.

"Can you answer at least one of the questions I just asked?" he asked, deep concern practically seeping out of every pore of his body. One hand was placed gently on her shoulder while the other tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear before resting on her other shoulder.

She cupped his cheek tenderly, looking into his eyes. "It's not contagious." As an afterthought, she added, "It should be, though."

"What's the plan for treatment? What's wrong?"

She moved away from him and began to walk in the direction of their small home, her hand reaching over and firmly holding his in order to have him close.

She decided to play around with him a little bit, toy with his emotions. She figured it was payback for her current state and she deserved a little of that right about then.

"I have to go back to the Healer once a month so they can see progress. There's something... growing, she spotted." She bit her lip once those words made it out of her mouth, knowing they sounded a lot worse than what she was originally intending to say.

"Growing?" his eyes widened in alarm, stopping their walk so he could look at her more clearly.

She nodded slowly, knowing she was in too deep now to backpedal. "They need to monitor it before they attempt an intricate procedure in less than a year."

"... intricate procedure?" he felt his heart constrict in his chest even though confusion was plastered on his face.

When her calm, collected composure threatened to spill over to being quite guilty for what she was doing, he took this for her needing comfort and immediately took her into his arms. "Hey, it's okay," he soothingly spoke into her ear.

She sighed, figuring she should stop toying with him and let him know the truth. She took a step back, looking down. "Look, I know everything is." She looked at him again, smiling softly, "Just... when I need you there to be strong and hold my hand, don't faint in the room, all right? It wasn't any help last time around when you were needed when you were sitting outside with your head between your knees."

"Last time around? I only fainted when Hope was–" he stopped mid-sentence, searching her eyes for the truth he hoped to find there rather than the dread that was chewing at his stomach. "_Suki_," he frowned, speaking in a warning tone of voice. "That was mean and you know it."

She smiled, chuckling softly as her expression brightened, "I know. Sorry, but it was hard to resist."

"Can you tell me the whole truth now or am I going to have to play a guessing game with you? Or, better yet, go to the Healer and ask, myself?" he gave her a look, seemingly mad but with a smirk on his face.

"No, just... can we go back home? Standing out here in this chill is making me freeze," she spoke, taking his hand and pulling him in the direction of their home.

He met her stride for stride before they entered their modest home. She took off her coat, and as soon as the front door was shut, he took her coat from her and hung it up, along with his own.

She stood, waiting for him to ask, which he did. "Now will you tell me?"

She nodded, kissing him softly before speaking. "I'm pregnant. I've just been having horrible, agonizing morning sickness as a reaction to the drastic change going on with my body right now. I'm not dying–even though it feels like it sometimes, and I'm not terminally ill... or ill at all, for that matter. The morning sickness is supposedly almost over, thank Kyoshi."

His smile grew, and before she knew it, she was back in his arms being held tightly. "You have no idea how happy I am," he murmured into her hair. "I would spin you around and cheer but I don't want to trigger anything unpleasant which I'm sure would happen due to my amazing track record. Though... I did have a lurking suspicion, especially after talking to Katara about what was going on, but I really had no clue what to expect."

"Expect the unexpected, I've learned. I thought I wouldn't be able to have children, to be honest." Her reply was muffled in the crook of his neck, but he heard it and pulled away slightly to see her face.

"Why would you say that?"

"You know how I was brought up, how many times I've fought and trained, and you've known how many times I've been injured–too many to count. I thought my body rejected the idea and I wouldn't be able to carry, let alone conceive in the first place." The ground began to look a lot more interesting as she inspected wooden planks on the floor.

He lifted her chin so she would make eye contact with him and he kissed her lips tenderly.

"Don't you think we're about due for a break in our lives? The war has been over for quite some time now, and the world is finally at peace. Everyone we know has gotten married, settled down, and had kids, moving the world in the right direction for the first time in a hundred years.

"We deserve a little one, don't you think? We deserve to be a part of new world, not be caught in the past of what we were involved in to help get it to where it is today.

"Don't imagine about how it can't be possible, because it actually did happen and you are pregnant. I mean, really? With all the sex we've had in our lifetime together? It was _bound_ to happen sooner or later."

She blushed at the truth in his words, taking a step forward to lean against him. His arms circled around her lower back as his head rested lightly on top of hers.

"I think we deserve a little warrior of our own," she said softly, knowing that Sokka would smile at those words. She found herself smiling, too. "A boy first, then a little girl for him to watch over and keep out of harm's way–but, in truth, she'd be the one keeping him out of trouble."

Her voice cracked a little, giving away the lump that had formed in her throat at thinking of their future together in such concrete terms. They had mentioned children before, sure, but nothing so set in stone, so real. They would joke about what they would look like, how they would act, what characteristics would be dominant... but that was taken lightly, jokingly, unlike now.

"I know we deserve a battalion of little warriors, boys and girls alike, but I think it'd be wise to plan one at a time and not push our luck. Don't you think so?"

Suki nodded, feeling the hot trails of tears fall down her cheeks in the cold air at the mental image of Sokka playing with their children, teaching them what he knew. She decided it would be best not to speak, because if she did she knew it would only bring more tears. She only looked at him with he peeked around to see her face, and he gave her a watery smile; then and only then did she notice she wasn't the only one with tears of happiness in her eyes.

She turned in his arms and held onto him, her cheek pressed against his chest. She felt her like her heart would burst from her chest as he mumbled his love for her softly in her ear. She knew his thoughts were along the same wavelength as hers. They weren't as different as she originally thought when they first met so long ago, and she was glad of that fact.

"I promise I won't faint," he said after a long period of silence, tightening his hold on her–his head was so high up in the clouds that he needed to hold onto her to keep him grounded.

"And I promise that if you do faint, I will throw something at you that I can guarantee will be sharp and potentially life-threatening." She smiled.

"I don't doubt you," he replied, looking down at her with a warm smile. He wiped the tears off of her face carefully with his thumbs before kissing her forehead. "Not for one second."


End file.
